Jurnal Psikologi ISSN 0215-8884 (Print)

Volume 47, Nomor 2, 2020: 137– 150 ISSN 2460-867X (Online)

DOI: 10.22146/jpsi.43730 https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jpsi

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Gratitude Cognitive Behavior Therapy (G-CBT)

to Reduce College Students’ Academic Stress

Muhana Sofiati Utami1, Mar'atush Shalihah2, Nanda Putri Adhiningtyas3,

Siti Rahmah4, Winda Kartika Ningrum5

Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Submitted 21 February 2019 Accepted 18 June 2020 Published 24 August 2020

Abstract. Stress cannot be separated from student academic life in university. This

stressful condition, if not managed properly, can prevent students from successfully

completing their studies. This study aimed to examine the effects of Gratitude-Cognitive

Behavior Therapy (G-CBT) in reducing academic stress among students. Sixteen students

were recruited for this research, all of which were working on their thesis projects.

Among these participants, 10 were assigned to the experimental group and six were

assigned to the control group. The effect of the intervention was tested using a quasi-

experiment with an untreated control group design with pretest and posttest samples.

The Academic Stress Scale and the Grateful Scale were used to measure academic stress

and gratitude. Analysis using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U Test showed that

following the administration of G-CBT treatment, there was a larger reduction of

academic stress among participants in the experimental group compared to the control

group (Z = -3.264; p <0.05). The study concluded that G-CBT intervention can reduce

academic stress on students.

Keywords: cognitive behavior therapy; college students; gratitude; stress

Each1 human being will experience a

stressful situation during the course of

their lifetime. However people experience

stress at different levels. The source of

stress can be due to a person’s inability to

adjust with rapid social changes or due to

modernization, industrialization, and the

advance of science and technology. All of

those changes affect moral values, ethics,

and lifestyle. The inability to adjust to the

inevitable and rapid change can lead to

stress which also depends on each

person’s personality (Hawari, 2011). Stress

can also be viewed as a form of interaction

between individuals and their environ-

ment of which is perceived as threatening

1 Address for correspondence: muhana@ugm.ac.id

to a person’s well-being (Lazarus &

Folkman, 1984).

Students in particular, are prone to

stress, especially due to academic stressors

associated with the learning process or

academic activities (Heiman & Kariv,

2005). Students may experience academic

stress when they have difficulties in

following the learning process (Heiman &

Kariv, 2005), or when there are many

assignments to complete (Sari 2003). Stress

can also emerge when the class schedules

are intense (Harianja, 2016) or when

students perceive that there is insufficient

time to learn all the course materials

(Carveth, Gesse, & Moss, 1996). Other

variables associated with stress include

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failure to complete thesis project

(Riewanto, 2003), lack of students’

academic competence, lack of interest in

research (Slament, 2003), distance from

families, money management, problems in

interaction with peers and adapting to a

new environment (Santrock, 2003). In

addition, there are some other problems

that can lead to stress namely feelings of

helplessness or lack of hope caused by

academic burdens, conflict, and frustration

due to failure to achieve goals, for example

failure to obtain the grades that were

expected, loss of a friend, and divorce of

parents (Santrock, 2003).

However, the way a person expe-

riences stress depends on how they

cognitively evaluates and interprets an

event or situation (Santrock, 2003).

Psychological distress emerges because an

event is perceived as threatening and all

available coping resources get

overwhelmed (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Smet (1994) explained numerous factors

that affect stress including: (1) individual

factors for example age, gender, genes,

education, economic status, and physical

conditions; (2) personality factors, for

example introversion-extraversion, general

emotional stability, hardiness, and locus of

control; (3) social-cognitive variables, for

example social networks, social support

and personal control; (4) relationship with

the social environment, for example

receiving social support, integration

between interpersonal relations; and (5)

coping strategies. Lazarus and Folkman

(1984) suggested that looping is an effort

to change cognitions and behaviors, to

manage internal and external pressures

that exceed the individual’s coping

capacity. Academic stress experienced by

students is caused by the failure to

develop effective coping mechanisms to

meet both academic and social demands

(Feldt & Updegraff, 2013). Therefore,

effective coping of stress is needed to

manage the academic stress experienced

by the students.

Research by Abdillah (2014) and

Widiyastari (2019) showed that gratitude

had a negative relationship with stress

meaning that higher gratitude is

associated with lower levels of stress.

Some research has shown that when

students experience stress, positive

emotions are often used as way of coping

which would facilitate their success in

higher education (Froh, Emmons, Card,

Bono, & Wilson, 2011; Hixenbaugh, Dwart,

& Towell, 2012; Mofidi, El-Alayli & Brown,

2014; Ruthig et al., 2008; Suldo & Shaffer,

2008). Gratitude is one form of positive

emotion which can be used for coping

with stress (Emmons & McCullough, 2003;

Emmons, 2007). Gratitude is also

associated with coping since one of its

features is the approach and management

of problems (for example active manage-

ment, planning, positive reinterpretation

and positive growth) which correlates

negatively with release behaviors, denial,

or withdrawal through substance abuse

(Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Santrock

(2003) explained that a positive mood can

promote efficient processing of infor-

mation, and this can increase altruistic

behaviors and self-esteem. Conversely,

negative mood can make an individual

angry, feel guilty, and increase their faults.

Mofidi, El-Alayli and Brown (2015)

found that specific positive emotions like

gratitude can assist students in gaining a

positive experience and enhance their

success in higher education. Individuals

that are grateful tend to be more able to

effectively deal with their psychological

distress in responding to the pressures of

everyday life (Emmons & Stern, 2013),

even in severely stressful situations

GRATITUDE COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY (G-CBT), STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC STRESS

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(Emmons & Kneezel, 2005; Lambert et al.,

2009; Watkins, Cruz, Holben, & Kolts,

2008). The elaborations above suggest that

interventions that increase gratitude can

increase students’ coping abilities in

overcoming academic stress.

Gratitude based interventions help

students to learn, be aware of, and develop

a sense of gratitude. Increases in gratitude

lead individuals to obtain some emotional

benefits (Lyubormirsky, 2007). Gratitude is

related to a reduction in negative emo-

tions, for example stress and depression

(Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Emmons,

2007; Lambert, Fincham, & Stillman, 2012)

and increases higher social acceptance

(Wood et al., 2008). Frederickson (2004)

added that positive emotions like grati-

tude can help individuals build physical,

intellectual, social and psychological

resources through a more adaptable

mindset. Emmons and McCullough (2003)

stated that gratitude encompasses two

cognitive processes: (1) being aware that

individuals have received a positive

outcome and (2) awareness that external

sources have a positive effect on those

outcomes. Gratitude consists of three

components that interact with each other

namely recognition, acknowledgment, and

appreciation (Emmons, 2007). People who

are grateful also think wisely since they

often do reflection and contemplation.

Based on this, we can conclude that

gratitude can emerge through a thinking

process, and therefore the intervention in

this research uses gratitude based

cognitive behavioral therapy (G-CBT).

The current study aimed to test the

effect of G-CBT in reducing academic

stress among students. The G-CBT

intervention was expected to improve

students’ ability to be grateful as one of the

forms of coping toward stress. Increased

gratefulness could induce students’

positive emotion which would therefore

reduce the stress that they experience in

the physical, emotional, intellectual, and

interpersonal aspects. Therefore, the

current study hypothesized that there is an

effect of the G-CBT on the reduction of

students’ academic stress.

Method

Subjects

This study recruited students working on

their final thesis projects. Sixteen students

were recruited, 10 were assigned to the

experimental condition and 6 students

were assigned to the control condition.

The following inclusion criteria were used

to recruit participants: undergraduate

student who were writing their thesis,

both male and female, experienced

academic stress within the mild-high

category (Academic stress score > 81),

scored low-mild in terms of gratitude

(Gratitude score < 85) and able to read and

write.

Measurements

The first measure used in this study was

the academic stress scale created by

Nugraheni (2012) which consists of 30

items. Reliability tests on 73 students

showed an Alpha Cronbach value of

α=0.897 while tests with a total of 119

students showed a value of α=0.922

(Nugraheni, 2012). In addition, the

gratitude scale (Listiyandini et al., 2015)

which consists of 30 items was used to

measure gratitude. The gratitude scale was

made based on the gratitude components

suggested by Fitzgerald (1998) and

Watkins, Woodward, Stone and Kolts

(2003); this scale consists of three

components namely: (1) appreciation

toward other people, God and life, (2)

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positive feelings toward life, and (3)

behaving in ways that express positive

emotions and self-appreciation. All three

components were divided into two major

categories, namely transpersonal and

personal. Reliability of the Gratitude Scale

was tested among 264 subjects aged 20

years above. The results yielded a

Cronbach Alpha of α=0.97 and an inter-

item correlation of 0.32 – 0.79 (Listiyandini

et al., 2015).

The intervention was based on the

Gratitude-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (G-

CBT) module which was prepared by the

researcher and based on Miller’s (1996)

behavioral approach which consists of the

following activities: identifying incorrect

thoughts, formulating and supporting

gratefulness, replacing incorrect thoughts

with gratefulness, and applying gratitude

in both physical and spiritual actions.

The technique used in the G-CBT

module took the form of psycho-education

which was aimed to develop new abilities,

understand new themes, or strengthen the

individual’s capacity in dealing with

difficult life transitions (Corey, 2012). In

this module, psycho-education was used

to explain the gratitude based CBT

intervention. The intervention made use of

a gratitude journal and gratitude letters.

The Gratitude journal is a task whereby

the participants are asked to write a 3 to 5

pages daily journal of the things they are

grateful of (Emmons & Stern, 2013). By

focusing on the things that make them

grateful, it is assumed that the participants

would experience more life satisfaction

and positive emotions which in turn

would increase personal strength

(Magyar-Moe, 2009). Gratitude letters,

consisted of activities where the partici-

pant writes a letter thanking God or

someone that has been kind to the

participant, which is then read by the

participant themselves (Emmons & Stern,

2013; Watkins et al., 2003).

The CBT intervention comprised of the

following activities: (1) cognitive

restructuring, namely the process of

identifying and evaluating a person’s

thought patterns, and understanding the

negative behaviors that are associated with

these negative thoughts. This process

would allow the person to learn and

replace those negative thoughts with more

realistic and adaptive thoughts (Corey,

2012). Changing the thought patterns

would eventually lead to the change in a

person’s behaviors and emotions (Corey,

2012); (2) relaxation is a form of self-

control to regulate emotions from anxiety

and distress (Corey, 2012); (3) prayer is

done with the purpose of changing a

person’s perspective to believe that each

living day is a blessing from the Lord

(Lambert, Fincham, Braithwaite, Graham,

& Beach, 2009); (4) symbolic modeling

refers to the process of individual learning

by which the individual observes and

imitates behaviors by watching films,

videos, and other media (Corey, 2012).

Symbolic modeling is sometimes as

effective as modeling with real examples

(Martin & Pear, 2003); and (5) homework

assigned by therapist to the participant

outside of therapy sessions. This would

give the opportunity for the participants to

practice the skills learned in therapy and

practice them in real life (Corey, 2012).

The G-CBT module in the current

study was a form of group therapy. The

group approach is one form of interven-

tion that involves 4-10 people and group

members interact with one another. The

group approach makes it possible for

group members to share with other

members, which is helpful when working

on the assignments and also provides

opportunity to learn from others (Corey,

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2012). The group approach also allows

feedback to be given to the therapist or

facilitator and other group members

(Corey, 2012). Feedback, during the course

of the therapy session is an important part

of learning new behaviors, since it

involves appreciating and reinforcing

behavior as well as giving specific advice

to correct and modify behavioral mistakes

(Corey, 2012). Finally, the group approach

allows group members to receive psycho-

education, by modeling and learning the

coping behaviors of other group members,

helping in the process, giving support and

displaying adaptive behaviors (Corey,

2012).

Before using the intervention for

research, the G-CBT module was validated

using professional judgment by 18 compe-

tent individuals including psychologists,

lecturers, and students from the Master of

Professional Clinical Psychology Program.

The validation tests of the G-CBT module

are displayed in the Table 1 and 2.

Table 1 shows that all G-CBT Module

activities are relevant with the goals of the

therapy because it had a Aiken’s V > 0.80,

except for the activity “Gratitude Reinfor-

cement through Pro-social” which had a

Aiken’s V of 0.72. Table 2 also shows that

overall, the G-CBT module can be run in

accordance with the goals of the module

(Aiken’s V = 0.81), the instructions and

wording is easy to understand, the

worksheets and procedures are sufficient,

and the order of the topics/materials are

appropriate (Aiken’s V is larger or equal to

0.75). The module is considered to be

appropriate to be applied to participants

aged 18-50, with a minimum of a high

school educational background (Aiken’s V

larger or equivalent to 0.75).

The time allocation for each session,

each meeting and the overall module is

sufficient (Aiken’s V larger or equivalent

to 0.75). All materials in the G-CBT

Module (CBT Psycho-education, Relaxa-

tion, Cognitive Restructuring, Gratitude,

Gratitude-Based Cognitive Restructuring

Video, Gratitude Reinforcement Symbolic

Modelling Video, Gratitude Reinforcement

Pro-social Video, and Relaxation Music)

were aligned with the goals of the therapy

(Aiken’s V above 0.70).

The assignments given during the

intervention (Gratitude Based Cognitive

Restructuring and Gratitude Expression)

or the “daily event” and “counting

blessing” assignments were judged to be

aligned with the goals of the therapy

(Aiken’s V above 0.70). The Gratitude

Based Cognitive Restructuring Worksheet

was judged to be easy to understand

(Aiken’s V=0.69) and the Expressing

Gratitude Worksheet, the “daily event”,

and “counting blessing” worksheet were

all judged to be easy to understand

(Aiken’s V above 0.80).

Table 1.

Results of the Validation Test of Relevance Between the Activities and the Activity’s Goals

No. Activities Aiken’s V

1 Psycho-education of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 0.82

2 Gratitude based cognitive restructuring 0.81

3 Reinforcement of gratitude through symbolic modeling 0.82

4 Reinforcement of gratitude through pro-social 0.72

5 Expressing gratitude through gratitude letters 0.85

6 Counting blessing daily journal 0.81

7 Relaxation and prayer 0.85

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Table 2.

Results of the Relevance Test Validation of the G-CBT Module

No Statements Aiken’s V

1 Overall, the module can be run in accordance with the module’s goals 0.81

2 The instructions are easily understood by the therapist and participants 0.75

3 The wording is easily understood by the therapist and participants 0.75

4 The worksheets are easily understood and used in accordance with the goal of

the module 0.82

5 The procedures are clear and sufficient 0.78

6 The order of the topics/material are appropriate 0.78

7 The module can be used for participants aged 18-50 years 0.74

8 The module can be used by participants with a minimum of high school

education background 0.76

9 The time allocation for each session is adequate 0.76

10 The time allocation for each meeting is adequate 0.75

11 The time allocation for the whole module is sufficient 0.75

12 The psycho-education CBT material is aligned with the goal of the therapy 0.79

13 The relaxation material is aligned with the goal of the therapy 0.85

14 The gratitude based cognitive restructuring material is aligned with the goals of

therapy 0.81

15 The Gratitude Based Cognitive Restructuring video is aligned with the goals of

therapy 0.78

16 The Gratitude Based Reinforcement video: Symbolic Modelling is aligned with

the goals of the therapy 0.75

17 The Gratitude Reinforcement Video: Pro-social is aligned with the goals of the

therapy 0.71

18 The Relaxation Music is aligned with all the relaxation techniques used 0.74

19 The gratitude based cognitive restructuring assignment is aligned with the goals

of the therapy 0.82

20 The Expressing Gratitude Assignment is aligned with the goals of the therapy 0.83

21 The “daily event” homework is aligned with the goals of the therapy 0.79

22 The “counting blessing” homework is aligned with the goals of the therapy 0.79

23 The Gratitude-Based Cognitive Restructuring Worksheet is easy to understand 0.69

24 The “expressing gratitude” worksheet is easy to understand 0.83

25 The “daily event” worksheet is easy to understand 0.81

26 The “counting blessing” worksheet is easy to understand 0.83

Overall, validation of the G-CBT

Module showed that the Aiken’s V ranged

from 0.69-0.85 with an average of 0.79.

Each Aiken’s V was higher than 0.5 which

indicates good content validity (Azwar,

2017). Based on these explanations, it can

be concluded that the G-CBT Module has

good content validity.

Additional forms were used in this

research namely informed consent forms,

observation forms (consisting of obser-

vation toward the subject and therapist,

and the intervention process), evaluation

form, and worksheets (counting blessing

form, re-structuring form, and gratitude

form).

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Research design and procedure

The research used an untreated control

group design with dependent pretest and

post-test samples (Shadish, Cook, &

Campbell, 2002). There were two groups

in this research namely: (1) the experi-

mental group which received the G-CBT;

and (2) the control (waiting list) which

only received G-CBT after the research had

ended. Data collection was conducted in

three steps; namely pretest (prior to inter-

vention), posttest (after the intervention),

and follow up (one week following the

intervention) using the Gratitude Scale

and Academic Stress Scale.

In the initial phase of the research, the

researcher conducted a screening of

potential participants. The assessment

resulted in 35 participants who were

willing to be subjects, but only 28 were

eligible based on the criteria. Afterwards,

subjects were matched and this led to the

assignment of 10 participants in the

experimental group and 10 participants in

the control group. Prior to the research, the

participants were asked to complete the

informed consent forms. In the process of

the intervention, there was a participant in

the experiment group who did not

participate fully in the group sessions. This

participant did however still receive

material and follow the intervention

process and was still included in the

research. For the control group, four

subjects did not complete the posttest and

therefore only 6 subjects met the criteria

for further analyses.

The G-CBT intervention was con-

ducted during the course of four meetings

within three weeks, namely two weeks in

the first week, one meeting in the second

week, and one meeting in the third week.

There was a two-week interval between

the second and fourth meeting which is

recommended by Emmons and Sterns

(2013) especially related to the counting

blessing assignment. The meeting was

conducted in groups and had duration of

100-120 minutes. The activities that were

conducted during the meeting included

psycho-education on cognitive behavioral

therapy and gratitude, muscle relaxation,

breathing and prayer relaxation, under-

standing situations and responses, cogni-

tive restructuring, symbolic modeling

using video, and expressing gratitude

verbally and through written work. In

addition, the subjects completed

homework in the form of: (1) taking notes

of daily events to help the subject identify

situations, thoughts, and feelings, beha-

viors, and physiological responses; (2)

writing a daily gratitude journal as a

medium for the subject to record all the

blessings the participant had received.

Results

Description of subjects

Table 3 presents the total number of

subjects in the experiment group which

consisted of 10 people (seven female

participants and three male participants),

while the control group consisted of six

subjects (Four female subjects and two

male subjects). All research subjects in this

research were at their final semester and

aged between 20-25 years.

Manipulation Check

Before conducting the hypothesis tests, we

checked whether the manipulation work-

ed in accordance with our predictions. In

this research, the G-CBT intervention was

aimed to increase the subject’s gratitude.

Therefore to understand whether the

intervention gave the intended effect we

conducted a test on the Gratitude Scale to

compare scores before and after the

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intervention (pretest – posttest – follow

up), between the experimental group and

the control group using non-parametric

Wilcoxon test.

In Table 4 we can see that the

experimental group showed higher

gratitude scores at posttest compared to

pretest (Z = -2.091; p<0.05). Furthermore,

gratitude scores at follow up was also

higher compared to the pretest (Z = 0.420;

(p>0.05). This showed that following the G-

CBT intervention, there was an increase of

gratitude among participants in the

experiment group, while no differences

were found among participants in the

control group.

In Table 5 we can see that participants

in the experimental group showed lower

scores of academic stress at posttest

compared to pretest scores (Z = -2.809;

p<0.05). The same pattern was found for

academic stress at follow up, which was

lower compared to pretest scores (Z =

-2.708; p<0.05). This showed that following

the G-CBT intervention, participants in the

experimental group showed a reduction in

academic stress, while in the control group

no such reduction was recorded.

Table 4.

Wilcoxon Test on Gratitude

Group Measurement p Description Z

Experiment Pretest - Posttest 0.037 p<0.05 (significant) -2.091

Pretest - Follow-up 0.036 p<0.05 (significant) -2.092

Control Pretest - Posttest 0.080 p>0.05 (not significant) -1.753

Pretest - Follow-up 0.674 p>0.05 (not significant) -0.420

Table 3.

Summary on Research Subjects

No Initials Age (years) Gender Semester

Experimental group

1 A 22 Male 9

2 S 22 Male 9

3 N 24 Female 10

4 Li 24 Female 13

5 Lu 23 Female 13

6 T 23 Female 8

7 I 23 Female 8

8 Sn 21 Female 7

9 To 21 Male 9

10 U 21 Female 9

Control group

1 P 21 Female 7

2 La 23 Female 7

3 D 21 Male 7

4 R 25 Female 8

5 Ai 20 Male 7

6 F 21 Female 7

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Tabel 5.

Results of the Wilcoxon Test on Academic Stress

Group Measurement p Description Z

Experiment Pretest - Posttest 0.005 p<0.05 (significant) -2.809

Pretest - Follow-up 0.007 p<0.05 (significant) -2.708

Control Pretest - Posttest 0.673 p>0.05 (not significant) -0.422

Pretest - Follow-up 0.686 p>0.05 (not significant) -0.405

The Non-parametric Mann Whitney U

Test, tested differences of academic stress

between the experimental group and the

control group following the intervention.

The results of the Mann Whitney test

showed that following the G-CBT inter-

vention, there was a reduction in academic

stress and such reduction was higher in

the experimental group compared to the

control group (Z = -3.264; p<0.05). The

results of the analyses showed that the G-

CBT intervention significantly reduced

academic stress on participants in the

experimental group compared to the

control group. Similar effects were found

at the 7-day follow up, which showed that

reduction of academic stress was higher in

the experimental group compared to the

control group (Z = -2.393; p<0.05) which

suggests that the effects of the intervention

had sustained for the experimental group

compared to the control group.

Despite the results that confirmed

expectations, not all subjects had a

reduction in academic stress following the

G-CBT intervention. Although nine

subjects experienced a decline in academic

stress scores (subject S, N, Li, Lu, T, I, Sn,

To, and U), one person actually had an

increase of the academic stress score

(Subject A).

Discussion

The results of the Wilcoxon test showed

that there was a significant increase of

gratitude scores between pretest and

posttest and between pretest and follow

up among participants in the experimental

group. Increase of gratitude scores showed

that the intervention had an effect on

participants’ gratitude in the experimental

group. The increase of gratitude scores

cannot be separated from the implemen-

tation of the Gratitude Cognitive

Behavioral Therapy (G-CBT) which was

used in the intervention process. The aim

of the current study was to create a valid

G-CBT Module which combined elements

of gratitude-based interventions and

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to

increase gratitude. The results also showed

that in addition to the increase of

gratitude, there were also reductions of

academic stress felt by the students.

This research showed that academic

stress was significantly reduced among

participants in the experimental group

compared to the control group. The

reduction in academic stress on the

experimental group occurred following

the intervention of the Gratitude Cognitive

Behavioral Therapy (G-CBT). This finding

supports research from Wong, Blackwell,

Mitts, and Gabana (2017) who found that

gratitude interventions can reduce a

person’s stress. Study by McCraty, Barrios-

Choplin, Rozman, Atkinson, and Watkins

(1998) also showed that gratitude

interventions reduce stress and that this is

marked by reductions in the stress

hormone cortisol and heart rate variability.

The gratitude intervention also

influences development of emotional

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coping (Lau & Cheng, 2015). Wood et al.

(2010) suggested that gratitude is related

with three coping categories. First, people

who are grateful tend to seek social

support and use their social resources

when they need it. Second, people who are

grateful use coping strategies that

approach and overcome a problem (for

example active coping, planning, positive

reinterpretation of situations and finding

potential for growth). Third, gratitude is

negatively associated with release beha-

viors, denial of problems, and withdrawal

from substance abuse. Three coping

strategies explain why people who are

grateful tend to experience less stress.

Gratitude involves two cognitive

processes, namely individual awareness

that they have received a positive outcome

and the understanding that an external

source plays a role on that positive

outcome (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

Gratitude can make students feel more

positive about themselves. Through

gratitude, a person can feel more happy,

energized, and attentive, enthusiastic, and

resilient compared to when people are not

grateful (Bono & McCullough, 2006).

Positive feelings can increase an indivi-

dual’s abilities in processing information

efficiently, and help them to become more

altruistic and have better self-esteem

(Santrock, 2003).

Gratitude can increase a person’s

coping capacity by eliminating the effects

of negative emotion. Gratitude can also

deter the adverse effects of negative

emotion which lead to unhappiness,

fatigue, and other psychological problems.

When a person experiences gratitude, they

reframe their negative experiences and

view it in a more positive light, and there-

fore they reduce their pain and negative

emotions (Allen, 2018). Positive emotion in

the form of optimism, happiness,

forgiveness, hope, love and gratitude can

overcome and reduce stress and

depression (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2007).

Some research also showed that gratitude

can reduce negative emotions like stress

and depression (Emmons & McCullough,

2003; Emmons, 2007; Lambert, Fincham, &

Stillman, 2012).

According to the subjects in the

experimental group, the intervention gave

them the skills necessary to understand

their own emotions, change their negative

thoughts to become positive which helped

them deal with stressful situations.

Gratitude also broadens the cognition and

allows more flexible thinking, which

facilitates effective stress management and

builds coping abilities from time to time

(Lin, 2013). By feeling grateful, a person

can overcome daily stress more effectively

(Emmons & Stern, 2013). This can be

useful for students in dealing with pres-

sure from academic life, for example stress

related with the complexity of course

materials, the many assignments, and

relations between the student and lecturer.

Gratitude can help an individual expe-

rience life positively for example enjoy the

blessings in life, and be satisfied and

pleased with an event (Lyubormirsky,

2007).

Conclusion

The results of the research showed that

Gratitude-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (G-

CBT) can reduce academic stress among

students. Through the G-CBT intervention,

students became more skilled in under-

standing their emotions, changed negative

thoughts to become more positive and this

led to feelings of gratitude, enjoying

blessings in life all of which and which can

help them in dealing with stressful

conditions.

GRATITUDE COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY (G-CBT), STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC STRESS

JURNAL PSIKOLOGI 147

Suggestion

Based on the research results, the

following recommendations can be given.

Subjects are expected to continue applying

the materials and skills that they have

acquired, for example writing a gratitude

journal, gratitude letters and relaxation.

Meanwhile, future research can test the

Gratitude-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (G-

CBT) intervention on subjects of a different

demographic characteristic.

Acknowledgments

We extend our deepest appreciation to Astrini

Arimurti Suhita, M.PSi., Psikolog as the

therapist for the Gratitude-Cognitive Behavior

Therapy in this research. We would also like to

thank the psychologists, lecturers, and

students in the Master of Professional

Psychology program for giving their

evaluation and feedback on the Gratitude-

Cognitive Behavior Therapy module used in this

research.

Funding

This study received a research grant from

Community Service Grant of the Faculty of

Psychology, UGM 2017. Contract Number:

1807/SD/PL.03.02/V/2017

Authors’ contribution

Literature review, creating the proposal,

performing the experiments, collecting and

analyzing statistical data, making decisions

and writing the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interests in regards to

this research.

Orcid id

Muhana Sofiati Utami

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9032-1606

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